Thursday 27 October 2011

Day 10 & 11 of My Challenge

For those of you who follow my blog everyday, you would notice I didn't post anything yesterday. I had 2 full days and was kept busy last night until around 12:00. I decided I would do both days in 1 as both were almost the same. I had my Oats as normal for breakfast combined with a boiled egg before starting my day. I spend my whole day on the road yesterday driving 200miles / 320km. On the road my father and I had a fruity snack and a meat pie for lunch

After getting home I had to finish building a vegetable garden that is built with pre-cast concrete slabs. Moving these on their own at 36kg each, it is already a workout. After building the garden I had to off load 1 ton of gravel from my pick-up. Well some people may think this has nothing to do with Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle program, but planting organic vegetables is a lot healthier than buying it in a shop. As for my training I believe that Tom Venuto and anyone that has ever off loaded gravel them self would agree that it is a combination workout.

Physical labour like shovelling gravel is not only a cardio sport, but also weight training. A shovel of gravel can weight up to 7.5kg / 16lbs. picking up a small weight for 150 times in a row will help you burn the fat and keep you within Tom Venuto's program. I off loaded around 300 kg yesterday. I took a shower and had pan grilled chicken Vienna on a slice of Whole Wheat Low GI bread.

Day 11 of My Challenge I basically had the same type of day consisting of Oats for breakfast and a lot of driving for the day. I was home for lunch at least which meant I made myself a nice tuna salad and a glass of milk.

I was not finished with my vegetable garden though and had to off load another 700kg of gravel. I started shovelling when my father got home and helped me. I had to shovel all the gravel of my pick-up into a wheel barrow and a big dustbin that worked faster than the wheel barrow. So my father helped me push the wheel barrow and carry the dustbin. We did finish just in time however as it started to rain. Well after moving 700kg of gravel I had quite an appetite. My mother had luckily made a nice Chicken Suprise filled with vegetables ( Not my own yet) and potatoes.

I just want to remind everyone to check out my Body Stats page to follow my progress. For those who haven't checked it out, I had made some progress already. I lost 3.74lbs / 1.7kg in my first week on the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle Challenge. Tom Venuto really does have the Secret.

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Day 9 of My Challenge

9 Days of diet and training with Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle challenge and starting to realise Tom's program can become a lifestyle and not just a diet. I have tried many diets and person trainers exercise programs. They do work in a sense, but they are so difficult to maintain and as soon as you eat a slice of cake you start gaining twice as much.

What makes Tom Venuto different? Well he does tell you what to eat, he only gives you the guide lines of what food combinations are bad for you and when to eat what. This makes it a lifestyle change as you are able to stay within a budget and still be healthy, fit and lean.

This morning I ate my oats, but gave it a twist. I went back to the Burn the Fat,Feed the Muscle e-book and saw Tom Venuto mention you should take proteins with every meal. So I decided to have an egg with my smaller helping of oats.

For lunch I packed myself a sandwich with ham, cheese and tomato all stacked on a Whole Wheat Low GI bread.

Because of the heat we had these last couple of days I started to develop a serious headache. I took something to help me and gave it some time to do it's work before I start my Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle training program. Then all of a sudden I had a bad encounter with a pepper ball shot from a Gas gun. I don't really want to say out loud who caused the accident, but my father now knows how the safety switch works lol. After having to clear the house and trying to recover from the burning eyes and chest we started our program.

My program for day 9 of the Tom Venuto challenge only consisted of 35mins of Skipping for the cardio as the pepper was still causing some inconvenience.

As far as my skipping goes, I must say myself that I can now do up to 30 consecutive skips.

For a simple ending for today's post... Do not get in front of a pepper ball.

Monday 24 October 2011

Day 8 of My Challenge

I am one week into my Tom Venuto challenge and feeling great.

I had a really busy day so didn't get my Oats this morning which I am a bit sad about, because I could feel my Whole-Wheat low GI sandwich didn't have the nutritional value to keep me going all the way to Lunch. I had Ham and Cheese as a topping and thought it had enough Proteins. I did however get my proteins at lunch when I made 2 Boiled Farm eggs and tuna salad mixed together.

My Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle training program also changed a bit as I convinced my sister and Fiancé to join in the challenge. So I am doing a mixed exercise routine of Weight and Cardio.

Training Program Day 8

Barbell Bench Press - 4 Sets of 12 reps with my same 46.5kg

Barbell Bicep Curls - 4 Sets of 12 reps with 32.5kg

I then started with my Cardio 5mins later. I made myself a longer Skipping Rope with some 10mm thick Sash Cord and I find skipping much more comfortable now. The sash cord feels too light as it feels as if it is staying behind when I swing. So next up I will have to find something slightly heavier to make my skipping rope from, perhaps like those plastic Skipping Ropes they use on the videos.

I will post all my current body information regarding weight and measurements in tomorrow's posting. Feeling positive about my progress on the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle challenge.

I had an interesting chat to a client today that had struggled with his weight for many years, until he discovered the Tom Venuto  Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle program and today he is ripped, hard and lean. His experience not only convinced me even more about the efficacy of Tom Venuto's program, but also motivated me even more.

I know I will get the results, because the Tom Venuto Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is a proven program.

Sunday 23 October 2011

Day 7 of My Challenge

On day 7 of my Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle challenge I remembered a short piece out of Tom Venuto's book, which I have heard from many other fitness fanatics as well. And that is not to over strain your body with exercise and give it some rest. In Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle it stipulates that as a beginner, you should do 3 to 4 days of weight training a week and 5 to 6 days of cardio per week, but I thought I might as well do something even on my rest day.

After waking up and getting through the normal family routine, I made Oats for myself and enough for the rest of the family. This was quite normal and just spent time watching a movie for a change. We had to go for a lunch at my fiancée parents house which meant a healthy, home cooked meal with vegetables and meat. However I still hadn't done any cardio for the day. That was when I saw the Swimming pool and decided to give my stomach some time to do it's work and then go for a swim.

I did about 13 full laps of Freestyle swimming and some playing around as it was a really hot day. I must however admit that I know swimming is a great form of exercise, but to me it must be classified under a different category. The reason I say this is in Tom Venuto's book it says that you want to burn as much calories as possible and you want to feel the workout. Well with swimming you feel all your muscles moving and working, but like walking you get fit for that specific exercise and you build up momentum during the training, while with skipping, you actually feel the workout the whole time. This is not only for beginners, but even professional boxers and fitness gurus keep feeling the workout and the calories burning the whole time.

This doesn't mean I am against walking or swimming, All I am trying to say is the Skipping Rope is still the preferred choice of exercise for boxers to this day, but has been suppressed by big companies around the world that manufacture exercise equipment. This is all based on my research on skip ropes and not on what Tom Venuto says in his book.

On that bombshell from my side I want to finish off with my dinner menu that consisted of a Baked Potato and a piece of sausage.

Saturday 22 October 2011

Day 6 of My Challenge

For my 6 day on the Tom Venuto Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle challenge I decided not to wake up that early for the training as it is a Saturday, so only did my weights around lunch time with my dad. Did however eat my Oats for breakfast.

Training Program Day 6

Bench Press - 4 Sets of 12 reps with 46.5kg

Barbell Biceps Curls - 4 Sets of 12 reps with 32.5kg

Barbell Military Press - 4 Sets of 12 reps with 32.5kg

Made myself a Tuna Mayo sandwich with Whole Wheat Bread for lunch around 15-20mins after we finished the exercising routine.

I did however cheat on my diet, because my sister bought us take-aways and I ate a Foot Long. This does unfortunately have plain white bread. In the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle program they say that it will not always be easy to stick to the eating plan, but try to do so as much as possible.

Regarding my afternoon cardio exercise... My father and I did some research and got some nice videos on Rope Skipping and I found my problem.... My skipping rope is too short according to the pro boxers and fitness fanatics. So my next task will be to make myself a decent, longer skipping rope.

We took some Photos this afternoon which I will Post tomorrow.

Friday 21 October 2011

Day 5 of My Challenge

I bought myself a Skipping Rope yesterday to use for my Cardio exercise.

Well I've been trying it, but still struggling to get the hang of it. My feet tend to come up to high, which means I jump to high and the rope keeps hitting me on the neck.

This however will not stop me, because like anything in life it's about practise. One thing I must say though is that one can really feel the workout after Skipping for a few minutes.

You may be wondering why I am going on about the skipping rope. Well it is all to do with finding an exercise that can be done in minimal space, because I do everything at home to see if it can still be done with only the most basic equipment.

A skipping rope is a real calorie burner according to the fitness sites and forums I found while doing research on the subject. Some of these fitness experts say that skipping can burn as much as 16 Calories per minute.

Well for my Weight Training Today I decided to try a different routine to prevent burning out the same muscles everyday.

Training Program Day 5

Body Weight Half Squats - 4 Sets of 12 reps

Side Lateral Dumbbell Raises - 4 Sets of 12 reps with 15kg

Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press - 4 Sets of 12 reps with 14kg per side

Body Weight Push-Ups - 4 Sets of 12, but I only managed to four sets of 9, 8, 6 and 5 per set, which means its better than my previous attempt.

Again I took a glass of water and had some plain Oats again and sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on it for Breakfast.

As for lunch today I was on the road a a lot and didn't have time to make me something fresh and healthy to eat, so bought a Chicken Salad at the local Fruit & Veg market. Freshly made in front of you with the quantities you prefer.

Like I said yesterday, I'm not skipping like pro yet. On the other hand like the saying goes: ''Practise makes perfect''. So on that note I decided I'm not going to give up on skipping and tried until I couldn't hold onto the rope any more. Well personally I think that it paid of seeing as I got to the point where I did 9 consecutive jumps. I feel proud of myself.

It was already late and dinner was in high demand. My sister jumped in and quickly made some scrambled eggs and bacon, served with a slice of Whole Wheat, Low GI bread.

Thursday 20 October 2011

Day 4 of My Challenge

Well this is actually starting to be fun.

I am reaching my goals in the sense of gaining strength and I am starting to like that burning feeling in my muscles.

I had a Nice workout today, but just changed one exercise to keep it interesting.  

Training Program Day 4

Bench Press with Barbell - 4 sets of 12 reps with 45kg

Back and Front Military Press - 4 sets of 12 reps with 30kg

Barbell Bicep Curls - 4 sets of 12 reps with 30kg

Bent Over Rowing - 4 Sets of 12 reps with 30kg

Drank a Glass of water and had some plain Oats again and just sprinkled it with some cinnamon for Breakfast.

You may be wondering why I am eating oats everyday, well this is just a part of my own little experiment. Tom Venuto also suggest eating oats and other fibres, but I once heard from Martin Dewee, SA Natural Body Building Champ and Weider Agent, that eating oats will help get fat out of the body after exercising. So that is why I am giving it a try.

Lunch as mentioned yesterday is not that easy all the time, but today I combined my biltong with Whole Wheat, Low GI bread and just added some tomato for a gentle touch.

Tonight is my first day of cardio using the Skipping Rope. Well It wasn't spectacular at all, as I am struggling to jump using only my toes and calves. I did however realise why Skipping is such a good workout. I tried and tried to skip like a pro and even after everyone helped I still wasn't getting the hang of it, but I was sweating and breathing like I had ran a marathon and all of this in only 35mins

Pork chops was again up for grabs. The reason I like Pork and Chicken for supper while being on the program is proteins in small quantities and still is a light meal.

Day 3 of My Challenge

Day 3 of my Challenge and feeling great. I do however start to feel the weight training working on my muscles. But I like it. I don't want to hurt myself or scare myself away from the training, so I'm just keeping my weights light and reps strict for the first part of the challenge.


Training Program Day 3

Bench Press with Barbell - 4 sets of 10 reps with 35kg

Back and Front Military Press - 4 sets of 10 reps with 25kg

Barbell Bicep Curls - 4 sets of 10 reps with 30kg

Body Weight only Half Squats - 4 sets of 10


Having some Oats for Breakfast again, but again having a glass of water and giving my body 15mins to cool down and then up and ready for the day.

For lunch I decided I want to see if a small salad keeps me going until supper, so made a little salad filled with tomato, lettuce, cheese and avocado. I was pleasantly suprised that I didn't even feel hungry during the day. That was until I exercised again.

Tonight was my last day of walking for cardio for the week as I found the right Skipping rope and going to buy it tomorrow. Did a 30min walk on the same route as the previous nights, but set the pace a bit higher.

Supper was a nice home cooked meal of Chicken breasts, spinach and brown rice. Keeping my meals plain and simple and most importantly, affordable. The advantage of trying to keep the meals basic is everyone in the house is getting the same benefits from the meal.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Day 2 of My Challenge

Last night I had to postpone my Cardio due to work, but that will definitely be worked in somewhere during my day.

However I started this morning on an active note which means Training.

My program for today I took a different strategy from Tom Venuto and that is to bring in some Body Weight exercises.

I decided to keep following the Fasted Exercises in the morning, which means training on an empty stomach.

Training program Day 2:

Started with some stretching and a quick sprint to warm up and get everything going.

Push-ups - 4 Sets of what was suppose to be 12 came down to a ratio of 7,7,5,3

Crunches - 4 Sets of 20

Half Squats - 4 Sets of 10

Leg Raises - 4 Sets of 8

Again had a Glass of water while cooling down and had some Oats mixed with fresh apple pieces I cut.

I weighed myself today. It was shocking, but true. 149 kg or 327.8 lbs.

Lunch is always a bit more complicated for most working people that try to lose weight. The reason for this is that salad can not be held for too long if you do not have a fridge. Making a bread meal is also not that easy because, What to put on the bread that complies with the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle program. Well as mentioned by Tom Venuto in his e-book you can drink a Meal Replacement shake. My only Problem I have with this is that not everyone who wants to loss a few pounds are millionaires and unfortunately these types of shake are somewhat expensive. So what do you eat at lunch?

I took the time and did some research on the Internet and found that there are 4 types of food that one can live on each one apart. These are Avocado, Eggs, Banana and something we have in South Africa that is called Biltong (This is Dried meat. Usually Beef or game meat). Ok so know I have this information. What to do? Well I decided to take the Biltong for lunch as I am a meat lover and a true South African supporter. So my lunch consisted of 100grams of biltong which is more than enough for any person as a meal.

Again I did walking as my cardio tonight as I am still shopping for the perfect Skipping Rope. I only did the same route as yesterday, because I am quite fit for walking, so I'm just walking for the cardio and to get back into the rhythm of things.

As for Supper, We as a household don't really eat a lot and especially not junk food. So I still eat with the rest of the family, but all that I do differently is making my portions smaller and only selecting foods that comply with Tom Venuto's program.

I had slice of my mothers protein filled Minced meat pie. This is made up out of sliced potato on the bottom of an oven pan topped with minced meat and egg mixture poured over to help keep everything together. Yum and healthy.

Monday 17 October 2011

Day 1 of My Challenge

Feeling Motivated yet? 

Well I am definitely feeling motivated.

I started the Tom Venuto Challenge this morning and feeling great.

I started the program on an empty stomach with weight training as suggested in the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle e-book.

The purpose of this strategy is to fast your body for the 45min training, which helps you to empty all your energy reserves that is stored as fat.

I started out slowly to not scare myself out of this challenge on the very first day.

My training started of with some plain stretching to prevent injuries, which is most important.

Training Program Day 1:

Bench Press with Barbell - 4 sets of 10 reps with 35kg

Back and Front Military Press - 4 sets of 10 reps with 25kg

Barbell Bicep Curls - 4 sets of 10 reps with 30kg

Body Weight only Half Squats - 4 sets of 10

To some fitness people out there it may not sound like much, but to me it was a full work-out and I felt it working.

I drank a Glass of water and settled for a shower. Had some plain Oats and sliced a Banana with it for Breakfast.

Next up will be my lunch and a fruity snack in between.

I hope to upload some current photos and body information later this week.

For Lunch I decided to have some Tuna mixed up with Tomato and Cheese as a kind of salad to get in enough proteins for energy to tackle my Evening training program.

I really want to get into Rope Skipping for my Cardio, but first need to find myself a decent skip rope and also make sure it is long enough for me. So for my first day I put on my trainers and went for a walk. My father and I usually do an average of 3.5km in round about 30min so we walk at a nice, steady pace. I did however walk for 40min as I took a different route.

Well after a long walk at that pace you are usually hungry, especially if you are used to eat normal without a diet plan. But I believe that how much you eat is all just a choice. However, according to Tom Venuto in the Burn the Fat,Feed the Muscle program you must also avoid starving yourself, as this will slow down you Metabolism and that will tell your body to  go into shock. This may not seem strange to some people, but your body actually holds back all the energy at this stage which means NO fat Burning.

For Dinner I had baked Pork chop, baked potato and vegetables.

Saturday 15 October 2011

Note To My Readers

PLEASE NOTE : 

I am totally new to blogging, so please bear with me as I follow Tom Venuto's "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" program, while learning the art of blogging at the same time :-)